text: The valence is the combining capacity of an atom of a given element, determined by the number of hydrogen atoms that it combines with. In methane, carbon has a valence of 4; in ammonia, nitrogen has a valence of 3; in water, oxygen has a valence of 2; and in hydrogen chloride, chlorine has a valence of 1. Chlorine, as it has a valence of one, can be substituted for hydrogen in many compounds. Phosphorus has a valence 3 in phosphine () and a valence of 5 in phosphorus pentachloride (), which shows that an element may exhibit more than one valence. The structural formula of a compound represents the connectivity of the atoms, with lines drawn between two atoms to represent bonds. The two tables below show examples of different compounds, their structural formulas, and the valences for each element of the compound.